10.5061/DRYAD.3J9KD51HF
Sowersby, Will
0000-0002-9774-5935
Osaka City University
Eckerström-Liedholm, Simon
Stockholm University
Rowiński, Piotr
Stockholm University
Balogh, Julia
Stockholm University
Eiler, Stefan
Stockholm University
Upstone, Joseph
Stockholm University
Gonzalez-Voyer, Alejandro
National Autonomous University of Mexico
Rogell, Björn
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
The relative effects of pace of life and habitat characteristics on the
evolution of sexual ornaments: a comparative assessment
Dryad
dataset
2021
Swedish Research Council
https://ror.org/03zttf063
2013-5064
Swedish Research Council
https://ror.org/03zttf063
2013-4834
Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour
https://ror.org/032hv5121
2021-09-13T00:00:00Z
2021-09-13T00:00:00Z
en
153356 bytes
9
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Selection may favor greater investment into sexual ornaments when
opportunities for future reproduction are limited (e.g., due to high adult
mortality). However, a key driver of mortality, predation, typically
selects against elaborate sexual ornaments. Here, we examine the evolution
of sexual ornaments in a group of killifishes, which have marked contrasts
in life-history strategy between species and inhabit environments that
differ in their accessibility to aquatic predators. We first assessed if
the size of sexual ornaments (unpaired fins) influenced swimming
performance and found that larger fins negatively affected swimming
performance. Second, we investigated whether the evolution of larger
ornamental fins is driven primarily by the pace of life-history (i.e.,
investment into current vs future reproduction) or habitat type (as a
proxy for predation risk). We found that males from species inhabiting
ephemeral habitats with lower predation risk had both larger fins and more
pronounced sexual dimorphism in fin size, compared to males from more
accessible permanent habitats. Our results indicate that enlarged
ornamental fins impair locomotion and evolve more frequently in
environments that are less accessible to predators, but with no clear
association to the pace of life-history. We provide a rare link between
the evolution of sexual ornaments, decreases in locomotion, and natural
selection on ornaments through vulnerability to predation.